What is Broadband?

Almost every aspect of life includes the internet these days - working from home, completing homework, applying for jobs, streaming HD video, telemedicine appointments, connecting to government services and so much more. Often times, households and businesses are accessing several of these online resources at the same time.

Not all internet speeds are the same. Internet speeds matter so homes and businesses have the enough speed to do all the things they need to do at once. Higher internet speeds allow for faster transmission (uploading and downloading) of data. As the data is transmitted digitally, text, images and sound are all translated into “bits” of data. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) defines basic broadband as transmission speeds of at least 25 Mbps (megabits per second) download speed from the internet to the user’s computer and 3 Mbps upload speed from the user’s computer to the internet.

For all of the broadband infrastructure projects that we have awarded grants through American Rescue Plan Act funds and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds, we are requiring even faster speeds - 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload that will be scalable to 100 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload on or before Dec. 31, 2026.